Optimism
by tortured-insanity
Summary: [GaaNaru]1. Adverb: tendency to expect best: the tendency to believe, expect, or hope that things will turn out well .Under any other circumstances, I wouldn’t have loved you.You are my Optimism.
1. Prologue

tortured-insanity here.

OKay, so here's my new fiction "Optimism".

It's GaaNaru...not hard to guess, but I do have a few warnings.

Obviously it's BL/yaoi. If you do NOT like homos...Backbutton.

though I should let it be known not EVERYONE is gay in this story. I've read too many fictions like that...

the start is pretty light but there will be some darker elements later on so... watch out.

I'm working hard to keep them as in-character as I can but. ...it's hard. So sorry for any OoC-ness.

umm, let's see what else?

ah yes, I won't be updating super fast, I just don't have the time. But I will update as soon as I get the chapters written.

Also, I haven't chosen on an ending for this yet...but you should know I have an affinity for sad endings... not that that will happen here...but it might.

I feel like there's something I'm forgetting to say...

ah, well, you should also know, this fiction takes place after the Chuunin exams, after Sasuke turns to the dark-side and after Gaara becomes Kazekage but BEFORE Naruto goes on his two year training trip with Jiraiya...ok so...yeah. also,I know the fist part is pretty short but later chapters "should" be longer

...I still feel like I'm for getting something though...

Masashi Kishimto owns Naruto and his bishies.

* * *

Optimism

ooo

"Kage Buushin no Jutsu!"

A pitched whistle and 'poof' of smoke later four perfect clones of the golden haired teen appeared just in time catch the falling piece of lumber as it came hurling towards the people below.

From the roof above three men looked over the edge of the roof, sighs of relief escaping them as the 2x4 they'd dropped hadn't hit anyone.

"Naruto! You can be such a show-off!" Sakura snipped with a tone that made it hard to distinguish whether she was teasing him or not, but none the less she too gave a relaxed sigh as the board failed to harm anyone.

"Yes, Sakura's right. Wonderfully done Naruto, your timing was perfect." Kakashi added in a bored tone as the four Narutos handed the wood back up to the roofers. Once that task was done three of the blonds disappeared in another plume of smoke, leaving the one yellow-haired teen smiling back at his team.

"Ah! Kakashi-sensei! I didn't say anything about a 'good job'!" Sakura complained, a pale blush tinting her cheeks. But the comment was left un-replied as the three continued down the street to Konoha's best ramen stand. To either side of them shops, stands and homes were being rebuilt. Evidence of Orochimaru's attack was still clear throughout the village as people tried their best to bring some amount of normalcy back to their lives. It'd been months since the incident, but the loss of homes and more importantly _lives_ was a gapping and slowly healing wound to the village and it's inhabitants. But as everyone worked hard to help each other as well as themselves, and under the strong leadership of their new Hokage, things were beginning to come together.

The three ninjas rounded the corner to come to the main street, two of them continued through the crowd when Kakashi noticed they were missing one. Halting Sakura with one hand, he turned back to look at Naruto who stood amidst the crowd staring off. Before he could ask the teen if something was wrong a bright smile lit up the blond's face and he quickly took off into the crowd, darting past a bewildered Kakashi and Sakura.

"GAARA-KUN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

Naruto's loud and random screamings where found as normal and quite common to the villagers of Konoha, but to the red haired boy who walked along side his siblings this was not something he was used to. The sand within his gourd shook violently in ready defense as someone screamed his name and came charging at him, but once the happy face came into view the sand settle down near instantly. Almost of it's own accord. The blond teen threw his arms around the other's neck in a choking, but welcoming, hug. This was not something Gaara was used to, nor something he liked, but seeing as it came from the boy who had saved him (albeit from himself) he would tolerate it.

Kankuro and Temari looked from the scene of their strangled brother to each other, fighting desperately to hide the snickers and giggles. Though their younger brother had changed dramatically from his encounter with the bouncing blond, he hadn't changed _that_ much. And they both knew, if caught snickering they'd be dead before they knew what hit them.

Naruto released his hold on the redhead before he turned blue and smiled brightly at the boy.

"What are you doing in Konoha? There's not another ninja test is there?"

Gaara shook his head in a 'no' and explained, "We're here for a meeting with your new Hokage." Gaara's voice was low, quite and deeper then most boys their age, but then again, Gaara wasn't like most other boys. Period. It went deeper then him just _looking_ different then most with his crimson hair and rich, almost unnatural, green eyes; or even the dark rings of sleepless nights lining the rims of those eyes or the _'Ai'_ tattoo on the left side of his forehead. No, those oddities didn't even scratch the surface of the many things that made Gaara different from everyone else.

But with his friend standing there, a look that twinged with a small smile on his face, there was no need in remembering dark memories.

"Meeting?" Naruto's wide blue eyes looked up at the boy who stood half an inch, if that, taller then him. "What kind of meeting? 'Hope it's not a long one if your meeting with Tsunade-baa-chan. That would really suck." Naruto squinted his eyes and leaned in closer to his friend's ear, whispering, "Don't let her fool you, Baa-chan is really the devil!"

"Naruto." Kakashi's voice resonated next to him. Looking over the blond found his sensei's face inches from his. Unconsciously he flinched away. "You shouldn't give our guests such bad impressions of our Hokage-sama."

"Keh! I'm not saying she's a bad Kage," Naruto shot defensively, "She's just a psycho nutter."

"You know, some people would say the same thing about you Naruto!" Sakura made her appearance by marching up behind Kakashi and grabbing hold of Naruto's ear, yanking painfully.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Let go Sakura-chan! It hurts, it hurts!"

Though the entire scene before him was quite amusing, Gaara only let a hint of a smile show.


	2. Here, We Meet

Optimism

ooo

"Kage Buushin no Jutsu!"

A pitched whistle and 'poof' of smoke later four perfect clones of the golden haired teen appeared just in time catch the falling piece of lumber as it came hurling towards the people below.

From the roof above three men looked over the edge of the roof, sighs of relief escaping them as the 2x4 they'd dropped hadn't hit anyone.

"Naruto! You can be such a show-off!" Sakura snipped with a tone that made it hard to distinguish whether she was teasing him or not, but none the less she too gave a relaxed sigh as the board failed to harm anyone.

"Yes, Sakura's right. Wonderfully done Naruto, your timing was perfect." Kakashi added in a bored tone as the four Narutos handed the wood back up to the roofers. Once that task was done three of the blonds disappeared in another plume of smoke, leaving the one yellow-haired teen smiling back at his team.

"Ah! Kakashi-sensei! I didn't say anything about a 'good job'!" Sakura complained, a pale blush tinting her cheeks. But the comment was left un-replied as the three continued down the street to Konoha's best ramen stand. To either side of them shops, stands and homes were being rebuilt. Evidence of Orochimaru's attack was still clear throughout the village as people tried their best to bring some amount of normalcy back to their lives. It'd been months since the incident, but the loss of homes and more importantly _lives_ was a gapping and slowly healing wound to the village and it's inhabitants. But as everyone worked hard to help each other as well as themselves, and under the strong leadership of their new Hokage, things were beginning to come together.

The three ninjas rounded the corner to come to the main street, two of them continued through the crowd when Kakashi noticed they were missing one. Halting Sakura with one hand, he turned back to look at Naruto who stood amidst the crowd staring off. Before he could ask the teen if something was wrong a bright smile lit up the blond's face and he quickly took off into the crowd, darting past a bewildered Kakashi and Sakura.

"GAARA-KUN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

Naruto's loud and random screamings where found as normal and quite common to the villagers of Konoha, but to the red haired boy who walked along side his siblings this was not something he was used to. The sand within his gourd shook violently in ready defense as someone screamed his name and came charging at him, but once the happy face came into view the sand settle down near instantly. Almost of it's own accord. The blond teen threw his arms around the other's neck in a choking, but welcoming, hug. This was not something Gaara was used to, nor something he liked, but seeing as it came from the boy who had saved him (albeit from himself) he would tolerate it.

Kankuro and Temari looked from the scene of their strangled brother to each other, fighting desperately to hide the snickers and giggles. Though their younger brother had changed dramatically from his encounter with the bouncing blond, he hadn't changed _that_ much. And they both knew, if caught snickering they'd be dead before they knew what hit them.

Naruto released his hold on the redhead before he turned blue and smiled brightly at the boy.

"What are you doing in Konoha? There's not another ninja test is there?"

Gaara shook his head in a 'no' and explained, "We're here for a meeting with your new Hokage." Gaara's voice was low, quite and deeper then most boys their age, but then again, Gaara wasn't like most other boys. Period. It went deeper then him just _looking_ different then most with his crimson hair and rich, almost unnatural, green eyes; or even the dark rings of sleepless nights lining the rims of those eyes or the _'Ai'_ tattoo on the left side of his forehead. No, those oddities didn't even scratch the surface of the many things that made Gaara different from everyone else.

But with his friend standing there, a look that twinged with a small smile on his face, there was no need in remembering dark memories.

"Meeting?" Naruto's wide blue eyes looked up at the boy who stood half an inch, if that, taller then him. "What kind of meeting? 'Hope it's not a long one if your meeting with Tsunade-baa-chan. That would really suck." Naruto squinted his eyes and leaned in closer to his friend's ear, whispering, "Don't let her fool you, Baa-chan is really the devil!"

"Naruto." Kakashi's voice resonated next to him. Looking over the blond found his sensei's face inches from his. Unconsciously he flinched away. "You shouldn't give our guests such bad impressions of our Hokage-sama."

"Keh! I'm not saying she's a bad Kage," Naruto shot defensively, "She's just a psycho nutter."

"You know, some people would say the same thing about you Naruto!" Sakura made her appearance by marching up behind Kakashi and grabbing hold of Naruto's ear, yanking painfully.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Let go Sakura-chan! It hurts, it hurts!"

Though the entire scene before him was quite amusing, Gaara only let a hint of a smile show.

---o---

The door slid open , letting the night's cool wind hit him.

Gaara closed tired eyes against the comforting feeling, but only for a moment. When he opened them again he was met with two wide and shinning blue eyes. Shinning even in darkness.

"Uzumaki-san."

Gaara stepped back from the railing of the small balcony attached to his hotel room. Naruto sat upon that rail, glaring back at Gaara like the redhead had stolen his favorite toy.

"It's 'Naruto'. Not 'Uzumaki-san', that makes me sound like some stuffy snob."

Gaara bowed his head slightly in apology and corrected himself, "Naruto…"

"That's better." Naruto huffed, moving from his crouched pose on the banister to sitting down with one leg swinging off either side, still glaring at Gaara. Frankly, the look unnerved him. So, tentively, he peered at the blond with his best stoic face and asked, "Is something bothering you?"

Naruto continued to stare for a moment, as if debating whether or not he should say something. Finally after some long and rather awkward moments past Naruto spoke, his voice low and hushed as if telling a secret. "You… you didn't tell me you became Kazekage…"

"Oh…" Oh? Ech. For some reason this conversation seemed to be getting more awkward by each passing moment and to the new Kazekage's dismay there seemed to be no way to end it.

Gaara let his eyes fall to the ground, trying to ignore the heat in his cheeks. Why was he blushing? There was no reason for it.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Naruto suddenly burst, his arms flailing madly. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A KAGE! WHY DID YOU GET IT FIRST?!"

Gaara looked up at Naruto, his face unreadable with the mix of emotions fluttering across during the swift breaks which his guard fell. "Are you…angry with me?"

"Humph! 'am I angry with you?' What kinda question is that?" Naruto huffed as he swung one leg over the rail so he sat fully facing Gaara. "Of course not! I'm just jealous!" The smile returned with squinted eyes and wind-bitten red cheeks. "Ne, ne, Gaara! Since you're a kage now that must mean you're the strongest ninja in your village right? Hey! Let's do some training together while your in town!" Naruto beamed, not waiting for Gaara to answer whether he'd have any free time. "And then after training we can go down to Ichiraku! Yeah, let's do that!"

"Well…If there's time. I suppose we could--"

"Great!" Naruto jumped up and waved goodbye to Gaara with a quick "See you tomorrow!" then jumped off and disappeared from sight.

Gaara stood, staring blankly at the spot where Naruto had stood only seconds before.

Sliding the door back open and entering the warm room the redhead couldn't help but smile slightly.

And Suna thought _he_ was crazy?

-o-

The distant sounds of saws and hammers barely made it over the grassy hill without being swept away by an influx wind. Uzumaki Naruto laid upon the thick green of the hill, eyes closed and ears set to the steady breathing of his near silent partner. Not far from the blond Gaara sat, back to the wind.

Neither had said anything for sometime, but the silence wasn't an uncomfortable one. Each boy was lost in their own thoughts and exhaustion that sparring usually brought. The stillness was suddenly shattered as Naruto sat up, looking over to Gaara and saying, "I suppose we should head back…"

Gaara nodded in agreement but a stillness settle back over them anyhow, both lacking any real motivation to remove themselves from the enraptured peacefulness.

"It's not like this in Suna…" Gaara murmured. "The quite I mean…"

Naruto cocked his head to the side and looked over at his companion. "They don't have quite in Suna?"

Gaara gave a small laugh at the half-hearted joke and corrected himself. "No, they do it's just…" He paused, mentally looking for the right words, " It's just I don't normally get to take part in any of it." Another pause. Running his words through his head and frowning slightly at how he realized they didn't make any sense. Naruto just smiled at the unique expression. He understood what the Kazekage was trying to say but didn't bother saying so, as he enjoyed listening to the teen try and explain himself.

"What I mean to say is, being Kazakage, I don't get a lot of free time."

"Haha, well then, I should consider myself lucky. To have the Kazekage himself take time out of his incredibly busy schedule to spend with me."

"Ah, yes. You should. But what can I say? You practically begged me, and with you making such an adorable face, like a cute little girl, how could I resist?"

"I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A GIRL!" Naruto shouted, jumping to his knees, face red in embarrassment and anger.

Gaara laughed and cracked a genuine smile, something rare for him, and confessed it was only a joke. Albeit a cruel one. Gaara had, unknowingly, hit a nerve. At the blooming age of fifteen, Naruto knew his body should have started to undergo the changes of adulthood. Like all his male friends, he knew he should start to get taller and his shoulders boarder, his voice to deepen and his body to become…hairier. The only reason he knew of this last change was the disturbing week Gai-sensei had made it a point to make sure every last breathing person in Konoha knew Neji had grown his first pubic hairs. How he had attained this information was still a mystery (one glad to be kept) and any time the Hyuuga boy had been questioned on the incident he had denied it ever happening profusely. Though Naruto was sure, much to Neji's horror, that nobody would be forgetting anytime soon.

Despite this, Naruto's shoulder's hadn't gotten any taller, nor had his shoulder's broadened or his voice deepened and certainly no pubic hairs as of yet. Nope. He was still the same Naruto. Shorter then most the girls, squeaky little voice, thin and very un-masculine body, knobby knees and ears that stuck out of the sides of his head like satellites.

Naruto fumed.

Puberty was damn late.

"Come on, Naruto-kun." Gaara said standing and reaching out a hand, still laughing from Naruto's outburst, but trying his hardest to hide it. "I'll buy you lunch as an apology."

Naruto beamed.

"Ichiraku's!"

Gaara smiled for an uncounted time that day and pulled Naruto to his feet.

"Anything you want."


End file.
